Facebook for Business 101

A few years ago, the business community virtually mocked Facebook (FB) as a time waster for procrastinating college students. Today, it is the main social media platform for businesses of all sizes. When you think online marketing, the main player is FB.

Some FB Facts (as of October 2014)

• There are 1.01 billion mobile active users on FB.
• FB users spent $234 million dollars worth of virtual goods on FB over the last quarter.
• 42% of marketers say that FB is critical to their business.

FB as an Effective Marketing Tool

 FB Builds a Relationship with Your Customers. This is probably the most important reason to be active as a business on FB.  Your customers are using it, and it provides you the opportunity to connect with your customers and build a trusting relationship.  Feature your charity work, or highlight an employee of the month.  This will make your business feel “human” and encourage a relationship with your customer.

FB Drives Sales with Its Advertising. Purchasing FB advertising allows business to micro-target their customers.  You can use Custom Audiences to target using email lists, or you can use Partner Categories to target specific people with the right message on FB, based on their activity off of FB.

FB Engages Customers and Influences Prospects. When you engage with your customers on FB by providing useful content, they become your brand ambassadors and begin sharing your content with their friends, thereby influencing them to “Like” your page and become aware of your business and its products.

Steps to Getting Started Using FB

1) Build a professional FB Page for your business. The best place to learn how to do this is by going to www.facebook.com/business. This site will guide you through the process and answer many of your questions.

2) Build Custom Tabs and Apps on your FB Page and begin gathering leads. A FB tab is a link found directly below the profile image that, when clicked, opens a separate page right on your FB fan page. Businesses use custom FB tabs to welcome new visitors, to offer discounts or coupons, to display events and contact forms, and to showcase videos and other content. Installing custom FB tabs is an excellent way to convert passive visitors into interested fans. Generally speaking, consumers do not “Like” a FB page, and tabs give customers reasons to return to and revisit your site.

3) 15 Minutes a Day. Keep your fans talking with visual posts and relevant content that you can find and schedule in as little as 15 minutes a day.

Last Thought…Target the Changing Demographic

Sometimes no matter what you do, your FB page won’t grow as quickly as others. This is a function of FB’s demographic. There are just some brands that will have a stronger presence on FB. FB skews towards female youths. Interestingly, 53% of users have kids, and a majority earns over $60k a year salary. The demographics that make up FB are changing, which means your campaigns may need to change with it for maximum effect.

It is an exciting time to be in business and to have social media, such as FB to build your brand awareness.